Fuel Smarts

FedEx Express Receives Fuel Cell EV Delivery Van

May 9, 2018

FedEx Express has received its first fuel cell, electric delivery van for use in New York, which will be deployed on a standard delivery route for the company.

The zero emission E-GEN delivery van was built by Workhorse Group and is charged by a Plug Power ProGen hydrogen engine, the company said in a release. The vehicle has a range that exceeds 160 miles per delivery cycle, and will operate at the FedEx facility in Menands, N.Y.

Plug Power’s ProGen fuel cell offers a 166% increase over standard battery power alone, according to release from Plug Power, and the fuel cell delivery vehicle is expected to accumulate more than 27,000 miles of on-road driving time in the first six months of operation.

The vehicle refuels using a Plug Power hydrogen fuel station located in Latham, New York, and the delivery van is currently fueling and operating through a broad weather spectrum, including rain, snow and cold temperatures.

Plug Power has already 20,000 deployed fuel cell vehicles, according to a release.

Fuel Smarts

BYD (Build Your Dreams) has delivered a battery-electric 8TT truck to the Port of Oakland. The Class 8 truck was grant-funded by CARB and will be part of a three-year feasibility study to determine whether zero-emission trucks could replace diesel trucks in port operations.

Fleetcor Technologies, Inc. will test blockchain technology as a way to modernize payments for its commercial fleet clients, especially across international borders, as part of a new initiative with Ripple, which has expertise in the technology, according to the company.

The new vehicles will annually consume approximately 36.8 million gallons of clean propane autogas, and many will be displacing fuels with higher emissions like gasoline and diesel, according to the Propane Education & Research Council.

A two-decade partnership among two of the most trusted and respected names in the work-truck and parcel-delivery industries reached a major milestone, as Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) delivered its 50,000th chassis to UPS.